Crystallized Snowrain
by Kuroy
Summary: A story about the twins Sleet and Crystal, before Sleet was accepted into the Dragon Temple. Set in Dardarax's Dark Legacy AU and a prequel story for his character Sleet.


Disclaimer: I do not own Spyro or the franchise related to him, Activision is the current owner. I thank Dardarax, for being the beta-reader and for letting me use his characters Sleet, Crystal and their siblings.

A young dragoness with dark blue scales watched the sleeping male beside her, wondering what the future might bring. He had a peaceful expression on his face, probably dreaming about the new things he would be learning... without her.

Both dragons slept in a bed made out of a pile of pillows. Usually one of them would crawl to the other's bed and make him- or herself comfortable. None of them ever refused the other's company, but knowing tonight was the last time they would be together like this made her heart ache.

She never expected their ways to part so soon, in a few years yes, but not tomorrow. As she looked through the window, the sight of many stars together filled her whole being with sorrow. Tomorrow, she will be like the moon, alone between the many sparks on the sky. A sigh escaped her muzzle, wishing the night would never end. Perhaps her friend was right, she needed him as much he needed her, perhaps even more. Two days ago, everything had been normal, everything had been good.

Two days ago...

"Come on Crystal, our class is starting soon." A cheerful voice urged the moody mist dragoness.

She looked over to her younger twin brother, her expression showed nothing but annoyance. "It doesn't matter, it's not like they will kick us out of this horror house called 'higher class academy' for being late once."

"Cheer up Crystal. Just a few more weeks and it'll be holiday break! Then we can spend some time with mother and father." The other tried again.

"Yeah, whatever..." she mumbled in a quiet tone. Crystal didn't really care about their parents. In her opinion they have sent them, their five children, away to this place, in order to continue their business, without the dead weight called 'parental duty'.

She continued her breakfast in silence, eating slowly while trying to expend her free time without teacher, until her brother spoke up again.

"Our first subject today is history," he declared, with a hint of amusement, which earned a groan from his sister.

"Runt, please tell me what I have done to deserve this?"

Already used to his nickname, he solemnly answered "Maybe because you almost broke Croch's arm yesterday?"

"Probably. That idiot deserved it." She smirked at the memory of the red dragon's cry. That bastard of an earth dragon tried to intimidate her twin brother Sleet. So to her, the best conclusion had been to punish him.

"Besides, history isn't that bad. There is a lot of information about our past. Some books can even be enjoyable."

The dragoness gave her brother a bewildered expression. "Sometimes, I really do wonder if we are really twins. You are such a bookworm. Your head should have exploded long time ago with all those books you've read."

A wide grin sprouted across Sleet's face. "I guess. But I think I'm really lucky to have you as my sister."

Crystal just nodded in response and continued her breakfast in silence.

When she finished her breakfast, both dragons left their shared room for the upcoming school day. As they walked through the luxurious school building, the dragoness wondered what their other siblings were doing.

Do they also have such lame subjects, like Sleet and her?

She and her twin brother were sharing the same classes, but they seldom saw their older siblings. The oldest of the five siblings was Meein, first born daughter to Glacieth and his mate Breen. After her, the two boys Frost and Direst were born, with a margin of a year difference they were very close to each other. At last the youngest of them were Crystal and Sleet, twins hatched from the two eggs laid on the same day, with Crystal a few minutes older than Sleet.

The dragoness sighed as they arrived in their class, with Sleet's insisting that they were late.

The class was filled with students either half-asleep or talking about the newest gossip, hottest topic was the most recent, one-sided clash between the academy's personal Ice Queen, in short Crystal, and her victim Croch, with his official new pet-name, the Wailer.

"Calm down, Balloonhead is late. So we are on time".

Balloonhead was her nickname for the history teacher. She had gotten into some trouble when she had called him the name the first time. In her opinion it didn't help his cause when his head _was_ as round as a balloon. She liked to give other people nicknames and she even called her younger twin Runt.

She took her usual seat beside Sleet's and prepared her books.

"But I don't want you to get into trouble... again. Next time, the principal will inform our parents and then you'll be in real trouble"

She rolled her eyes. "Runt, you are exaggerating again. Glacieth and Breen aren't interested in our lives. They are content with the money they earn, that's all". Not bothering to give their parents the honour, in calling them 'mother and father'.

"Perhaps, but I'm worried about you. So please stop getting into trouble, it would be horrible without you here." Came Sleet's response in a quiet and worried tone.

Her brother's concern lit up her mood and a smile spread across her feature. "Ok, I promise I will try to stay out of trouble. But if Croch tries something like that again, I swear, not even Spyro will be able to rescue him from my wrath"

The smile carried over to her sibling's face. "Really? Promise?"

"Yes, promise"

"Ok, then I will try to avoid Croch"

The smiled dropped and she couldn't help, but roll her eyes again, "Don't try to avoid him, Runt. Next time fight back. You are a male, don't be such a sissy."

"But- ouch," Before he could finish whatever he wanted to say, he was cut off by a punch landing on his arm.

"Quiet now. Class is starting." And on Crystal's cue, the whole class became silent as Balloonhead stepped into the room.

After three other periods of torment, the school bell rang signalling the beginning of lunch break. The twins stood in a long line of students; every student was hungry for their meal and a time without classes. The whole dining-hall smelled of cooked meat and the children were eagerly chatting with their friends.

Sleet fought an inner battle while choosing his meal. His thoughts were interrupted by a female voice from behind him.

"You take the chicken, I will take beef."

"How did you know I was choosing between these two?"

Crystal rolled her eyes, again. It was probably the twelfth time that day, not that she was counting. "Because you can never decide between chicken and beef. Now take the chicken, Runt."

They took seat on an unoccupied table. Both as usual, chose different meat and shared their meal with each other.

Halfway through their food, Sleet started mumbling a list of names, "Inferna, Ignitus..."

This perked Crystal's interest. "What are you mumbling about?"

"The name of the Fire Guardians, beginning with Inferna, the current one. It's for the upcoming exam."

The dragoness groaned. "Please stop it Runt. I'm not in mood for an exam or any lessons of yours."

"But our grades- ouch!" again he was cut off by a punch on his arm.

"No buts, it is lunchtime. A time without teachers and their stuff. We can study later."

"But-"

She continued before Sleet could answer, "If you want to study, we can try and train your combat ability. It will help your scrawny body."

The word 'combat' silenced Sleet instantly. Truth be told, calling him 'not the best fighter' was an understatement.

When someone saw or spoke to Sleet, they would know instantly he wasn't a fighter. It wasn't his body's fault, it looked normal like any average child. In Crystal's eyes, the only problem was his attitude. Sleet didn't like to fight and he would always try to avoid a conflict, backing off each time someone starts a scuffle. A horde of combat tutors couldn't remove this problem and to her chagrin, he gave up on learning how to fight.

It worried her. In the beginning of their stay in this academy, a green earth dragon named Croch picked up a fight with another student for bumping into him. Sleet tried to break them up, but in the end the bully beat up her brother while the other student, the coward, ran for his life. When Crystal found out the reason behind her twin's bruises, she literally sought and destroyed the earth dragon afterwards.

That jerk didn't learn from his two week stay in the infirmary and continued to bully her beloved brother; the recent incident was just yesterday, with him almost receiving a broken arm.

She sighed. Sleet was too nice for his own good. He would lend his paw to anyone who needs help. He always gave, and asked for nothing in return.

"Ok..." he trailed off, but then instantly started again. "But what if we fail the exam? History is one of the hardest subjects."

The dragoness moaned. Another problem was his nervousness and he wouldn't stop in worrying about every small detail.

"Oh, and what if..."

She rolled her eyes, it was starting to become a bad habit. The older twin tried to continue her meal as a new voice piped up.

"Hey Crystal."

It belonged to a dragoness with an orange hide, she had two horns crowning her head, both curving backward to the back of her head. She sat down on the cushion beside Crystal.

"Hi Sleet, how are you today?"

The blue dragon was busy eating his meal while reading his book, so the only reply the newcomer got was a short 'good'.

Crystal just shook her head at the sight of her brother and turned to the orange dragoness.

"Hi Vagra, the Runt is in his own world again, so don't bother to talking to him." She grinned as her brother protested.

Vagra giggled and whispered into her friend's ear, "But it's a cute sight. He always has such a sweet frown whenever he reads his books."

Without even looking to her twin, she could tell he was uncomfortable with the dragoness's choice of words. She also knew the tone of her best friend's voice.

"Please stop teasing him."

"Why? I'm just telling the truth." Vagra leered at the blue dragon. "You do have a handsome side, Sleet."

He coughed and was on the verge of blushing.

"Again, stop teasing him. You are talking about my younger brother." She feigned a grossed out expression.

"Yes, so? I bet when he becomes older, a lot of females will swoon over him, naturally myself included." Vagra giggled before she dug into her meal.

Another cough.

Crystal rolled her eyes; damn it was the fourteenth time today. The confession would have freaked her out, but only if she didn't know that her best friend was just joking.

"Stop it. I'm trying to enjoy my meal, and now you come with your weird love confession."

Cough.

"Aw, but it would be great. If I become Sleet's mate, the two of us will also become sisters-in-law. Wouldn't it be just awesome? The two of us meeting up on daily base, we can trade our stories and chat about the stupid things our mates did." Her voice sounded dreamily as if she was imagining her perfect future.

Cough, cough.

Crystal's face first changed into a shocked expression and then distorted into a revulsion, as if almost ready to throw up. "Oh ancestors, the image, the horror, it's too much. I need brain bleach!"

Couch, cough, cough.

"Why not? We both could continue our mutual friendship." The fire dragoness giggled but eventually frowned and changed into a more serious tone, "Of course until I find Sleet with another female, then I would kick him out."

COUGH.

Both dragonesses turned their heads to the source of the coughs.

"Uh, would you two pleeeeease stop talking like I'm deaf or not here?

"But I do want you to hear it, my dear," Vagra gave Sleet a wink, "I'm arranging our future my soon-to-be mate, of course you have to hear everything I say."

The final sentence pushed the poor dragon over the edge, blood rushed up into his face as he decided to hide himself behind a book.

Crystal pitied her brother but enjoyed teasing him at the same time. Her best friend just loved to do this. Vagra spent a lot of time together with her and Sleet; she especially liked to tease the male twin. The orange dragoness didn't share every class with the twins, but when together, they would always have fun in one way or another. Crystal met her as Sleet gave the female dragon a tour through the building on her first day, ever since then the three of them have been friends.

Vagra grinned at Sleet and then changed her voice into a more delighted tone. "Anyway, did you two hear the newest gossip?"

"Me beating up Croch? Yeah, I was there"

Her friend pouted, "No not that, your last move was great by the way. It's about the visitor tomorrow." The fire dragoness grinned as she got both of her friend's attention.

"Who is coming? Hope it's not a new teacher." Crystal's voice gave her curiosity away.

"Nope, guess again."

"Just tell us."

"No, not until you two guess it right," still grinning, her gaze shifted to the other twin. "Sleet, want to give it a try?"

Behind a book, Sleet shook his head, indicating a no. He pretended to read his book, avoiding Vagra's gaze after her she revealed her future plans.

The older sibling gritted her teeth, trying not to 'persuade' her friend into revealing the information. Sometimes it was fun guessing, but mostly it was annoying.

The orange dragoness's grin became impossibly wide when she saw Crystal ready to burst. "Ok, here it is. The visitor is one of the Guardians. More precisely..." she enjoyed the attention, using a dramatic pause to fuel both dragon's curiosity, "it's Cyril the Guardian of Ice."

Yesterday...

"Come on Crystal, our class is starting soon." A cheerful voice cut through the moody dragoness's thoughts.

Said dragoness sighed as she followed her brother through the maze called school. The same schedule, with the same subjects, same students, same boring teachers and even Sleet's mood was the same as yesterday. At least the rumoured visitor will bring a change of pace.

When the mist dragoness heard the news of a Guardian visiting the academy, she was delighted. Like all the other young dragons in their age, she and her siblings were raised with the stories about the heroic deeds of Spyro the purple dragon and the five Guardians. The Guardians consist of powerful dragons, each of them representing one of the most common elements a dragon could possess.

Today, if her friend's information were true, Cyril the Guardian of Ice will come to this prison for children.

The whole student body was excited. The rumour spread like a wildfire. Every student they passed was talking about the visitor.

"Wow, everybody is talking about the Guardian rumour. I wonder if it's true."

"Who knows, Runt. It would be great if it's true. What really concerns me is, why does he come?"

"Perhaps he will choose a student for the Dragon Temple?" A frown appeared on her brother's face as he made the suggestion.

"It could be, if he really comes. Wonder what kind of student he is looking for"

"I guess someone smart and strong. Who is a fast learner and can fight. "

"So we can count Croch out." Added the dragoness with a grin.

Her brother chuckled and nodded in approval.

They stopped their talk as two other figures approached them, two very familiar dragons.

"Crystal, Squirt, have you two heard-"

"Yes Frost." The female twin butted in, trying to shorten the encounter "We heard the rumour. We were talking about it until you and Direst interrupted us with your pleasant presence."

The sarcasm wasn't lost.

Frost, an ice dragon, the second oldest sibling and eldest brother, feigned a hurt expression. "Ouch, your tongue is sharp as usual little sis. You shouldn't greet a family member in such a way. Show some respect towards your older brothers."

"Not until you two show us some respect."

This time Direst, a water dragon, cut in. "Anyway, what we wanted to say is that the rumour is true. We and few other students saw Cyril walking into the principal room."

Crystal raised an eyeridge, Sleet raised both.

"Really? When?" Sleet's anticipation was clearly audible.

"Quit it Squirt. It was just a few minutes ago but yes, we saw him. His appearance matched his pictures and we saw his Guardian Seal." Answered the water dragon in an annoyed tone but then it changed into excitement. "There is a high chance that someone here will become his student."

Crystal rolled her eyes and couldn't help but scoffed at the last sentence, "Let me guess, you two think one of you will be that lucky student."

Both older brothers grinned.

"Great, you see it in the same way as us. It's common for a Guardian to choose a student matching his or her element." Frost continued to gloat, "Direst or I would be perfect for his choice. Even though Direst here is a water dragon."

She wasn't sure if they ignored her mocking or were just ignorant. She guessed it was probably the last one.

"Perfect in the same sense as Croch." Whispered the mist dragoness to her twin, both chuckling.

"What are you two whispering about?"

Before any of their older brothers received an answer the school bell rang.

"Ah Crystal, we are late!" Exclaimed Sleet, before running off.

The dragoness ran after her twin leaving their older brothers behind without a farewell.

Like most dragons in her age, Vagra was a very curious dragoness. She loved being up to date with the newest topics and share it with her friends.

While she enjoyed gossips and loved spreading them, she had never started any of them. She had her sources, very reliable ones.

The flame dragoness's face showed her famous grin. She had to tell Crystal the great news.

Few minutes ago, Vagra had eavesdropped a certain talk. Though in this case eavesdropping was a little exaggerated, because her innocent self was walking down the hall without any ulterior motives, until two voices awoke the gossip girl in her. Mind you, she didn't want to overhear it but she only recognized one of the two voices and that dragon was a high ranking staff member in her school. Their serious tone was what proved it to be the best gossip, and she wasn't disappointed in the result.

She was delighted, time to spread the news to her friends.

Crystal sat in front of her table, eyeing her utensils with a wary look. One of the few classes she didn't share with Sleet was herbalism.

This particular class was her favourite subject. Crystal liked herbs and their effects. With her own healing power as a mist dragon and the knowledge she gained from the books and this class, she was able to treat her brother and herself in the past, beginning from small rashes up to fever and more serious illness.

But this unique herb on her table was something she never saw before. Ok, it was green which is quite normal for a plant and it had brown roots which is also normal but there ended the normal characteristics. Dots covered the whole surface with purple coloured on the lower half and yellow ones on the upper parts. In the middle of every dot, either purple or yellow, was a black spot which gave the plant the look of possessing eyes. The disturbing part was that it moved. It didn't move like a living animal rather it was trembling.

The mist dragoness blinked, did this thing just winked at her?

"Uh. I think my plant winked at me..." The student on the table in front of her said, disturbed.

"Don't worry dear, because of their trembling it only appears that they blink. It's one of the defence mechanics they possess to frighten off animals. They are herbs; they don't have any real eyes. Don't worry about it." Came the smothering voice of their teacher.

She sighed in relief. It had never occurred her that such weird plants could exist, until now.

"But be careful. While grinding these plants," The teacher lectured, "They will release a unique scent. When inhaling, it has an alluring scent but afterwards the scent in your nostrils will turn into a rotten smell, which can be strong enough to knock you out. So be careful while preparing your plants, don't take deep breaths and grind them slowly until they are fine enough for our next step."

The whole class was silent as the explanation sunk in. Getting knocked out by a smell didn't sound like fun.

She carefully put her plant into the grinder, slowly crushing it with small strokes. The whole procedure made her cringe, it didn't look pretty crushing this many eyelike things. It was like crushing a pile of eyeballs.

"Hey Crystal, guess what I have found out."

She looked at her side, facing Vagra while still grinding her herb. Her friend was grinning, the same grin she had yesterday, which meant she had very exciting news.

"What?"

"No, guess what."

The mist dragoness snorted in annoyance as she caught the scent of the plant in her nose. It smelled good but, like explained before, it quickly grew rotten.

"Don't want to." Came her half-hearted reply, which in turn irritated the orange dragoness. "You better work on your plant."

"Come on, guess! It is worth your time."

Crystal sighed at her friend's tradition. Why does she always want her and Sleet to guess her newest gossips? It was fun at first, but now, for the most part, it became a bother. She continued to grind her herb into smaller pieces.

"It has something to do with our visitor, right?"

She received a nod as response. The blue dragoness raised her eyebrow.

"You eavesdropped on him?"

"No, I only overheard him and the principal talking about an interesting topic. Now, try again." Through her smile Vagra showed her sharp teeth.

Her eye started twitching in irritation. Why couldn't Vagra just say it? Nonetheless she continued with her friend's game.

"Hmm, probably his intention?"

Nod.

"Is he looking for a student?"

Nod, nod.

"For real?"

Eager nods.

Crystal rolled her eyes, why can't her friend just say yes or no instead of nodding the whole time?

"You overheard them talking about Sleet, because of his knowledge, his good grades and him being the perfect example of a student. That's the reason our principal recommended Sleet as a student for the dragon temple."

Excited nods. "Wow, you got it right without any hints."

"Heh, of course I'm- wait, WHAT?" The cry caught the attention of the other students but only for a short duration, before they turned back to their own examples. Few students were wheezing for air while grinding their plants.

Vagra smiled a proud smile. "Yup, Cyril wants to interview Sleet. Can you believe it? Sleet may become a Guardian apprentice. That's just awesome!"

The happy tone was lost to Crystal as she had her own thoughts. Her brother is going to attend the dragon temple!

It took a shook from the other dragoness to bring her back into reality.

There was only one thing the mist dragoness could say. "No, Sleet can't go there."

The grin on Vagra's face turned into a puzzled look. "And why?"

"Because he can't."

The answer didn't please her friend. "Because of what? Why can't he? Did something happen to Sleet?"

Crystal shook her head. "No nothing happened to him. Obviously he can't attend the dragon temple."

From the look on her friend's face it was obvious that it wasn't obvious.

"Look, Sleet is my brother, my younger brother who is caring towards almost everyone, and can't fight worth horse dung."

"Yes, and?"

She groaned in frustration. It clearly didn't satisfy her friend's questions.

"Sleet is too nice and can't defend himself. He needs me around him. If he goes to the dragon temple he will be alone, without me. Who can protect him if I'm not there?"

The explanation confused the flame breathing dragoness even further. "Crystal, I think you don't give Sleet enough credit. Surely it can't be this bad and they probably teach combat training in the temple."

It angered Crystal that her friend didn't get her words. "No, my brother can't fight for his own worth. Glacieth hired a lot of combat tutors but Sleet didn't improve, not even the slightest bit."

Yes, their father put a lot of efforts into Sleet's combat training but to everyone's disappointment, especially hers, it didn't bear any fruits.

"Come one, you are probably exaggerating. Sleet can't be so frail, he can do much more than you believe."

"No." Crystal didn't want to discuss it further and resumed her work on the plant. The crushing motions became easier as she used more strength, venting her rage onto the weird eyed herb.

"Oh please, don't play the overprotective sister. It's a one of a kind chance for him." Vagra remained calm and tried to convince her friend. "Not every dragon gets the chance to join the elite. Not everyone will get the chance to study under the Guardians and Sleet will get that opportunity!"

The orange dragoness remained silent for a while, waiting for Crystal to process her words. "Many would give everything they have, just to get tested by a Guardian and here you are talking about Sleet being too weak? Are you kidding me?"

"No, Sleet isn't ready." Was the gloomy reply through gritted teeth.

"Crystal please, this is just stupid. Sleet is stronger than you think. You don't understand. You are-"Vagra didn't get any further as the blue dragoness spoke up while glaring at her.

"No, it's YOU who don't understand. Sleet is weak and I'm protecting him. What if there are bullies and they decide to make him their next victim?" Her eyes flashed a dangerous glare.

"I don't want to think of the many possibility of him getting HURT! He needs someone to protect him and that person is ME!" The anger was clearly audible and the outburst caught the attention of the whole class.

Vagra watched after her friend as she stomped out of the class. She was surprised at Crystal's outburst. Her bad temper was known throughout the academy but the flame dragoness was never, until now, on the receiving end.

"Sleet is stronger than she believes... and I know it..." The orange dragoness whispered to no one in particular, and then sighed. Looking around she was amused at the sight of their teacher trying to decide whether to follow Crystal or help the unconscious student on the floor, who probably breathed in too much of his flower's smell during her friends fit of rage.

The mist dragoness waited in front of Sleet's class. While watching the door she planned out the next steps. First step was to pick up her brother before he could be tested. The second step was to sneak out of school and avoid anyone for the rest of the day. Third step was to come as late as possible back and pray that Cyril has left this place.

The blue dragoness snorted in anger, mist coming out of her nostrils. She played with her money pouch, throwing it from one paw to paw and back. The gold it contained jingled each time it landed. The young female prepared enough money for Sleet and her to survive at least two days outside of their school. She considered checking its contents again but her attention turned towards the door as the school bell rang.

Her eyes flew over the crowds of students leaving the class, trying to pick out a particular ice dragon. As she finally found him, she put the money pouch back around her neck.

Sleet didn't have any books with him which made few things easier for the dragoness. He was talking with a yellow dragon as she approached him.

"Sleet mind if I have a talk with you?"

The younger twin immediately picked up the unusual tone in his sister's voice.

She spared her brother's company a quick glance. "In private."

The yellow dragon mumbled a small farewell to Sleet before going off.

The twins watched him leave before Crystal spoke again. "Come on, follow me Runt."

The ice dragon gave his sister a questioning look but followed her without protest.

They walked through the school building without saying a word. One was lost in her own thoughts while the other was puzzled by his sibling's action. As they reached the main gate, Sleet was the first one to speak out his question.

"What happened, Crystal? Do you really want to sneak out?"

"Yes, now come on before someone is going to catch us."

"But we still have some classes left and lunch is starting soon."

"Don't worry I have enough gold with me. We won't starve." She patted her pouch.

Sleet looked sceptical. In the past, they would sneak out once in a while, but it always occurred after classes are finished. Crystal didn't like school, but she knew the word responsible and waited after school ended and it also gave Sleet the opportunity to tag along, sometimes Vagra would join them.

Today his sister was acting strange and he couldn't tell why. Something must have happened while they were separated.

"Look Runt, I just want to get out of this building for few hours. I had a small fight with Vagra and don't want to see her again for the rest of the day. Beside I would never do something irrationally and take you with me if there isn't a good reason, ok?"

She waited a few moments while watching her brother's face going through different expressions. When his face stopped by a frown, she knew she had to persuade him a little more.

"Don't you trust me?" The question came in her saddest tone she could muster. She didn't had to wait, her brother's response came instantly without hesitation.

"Of course I trust you Crystal."

The determination in his voice made her grin. "What are we waiting for? Let's go, Runt."

The mist dragoness moved towards the door and pushed it open. She was happy, but at the same time felt a bit bad for using her brother's guilt to reach her intention.

The city of Crystal's and Sleet's academy was an important trade point named Pharae. Merchants from all over the world, regardless of race, would have visited this place at least once in their life. In the aftermath of the first war with Malefor, Pharae was built as a crossroad for food and other necessary supplies. It had an advantage over the other trade towns through its location. As a city built on the coast it naturally brought the construction of a harbour with it, which was frequently used by the non-flying races. The surrounding was a steppe, lacking places to start ambushes. During the last years the economic power of the city grew rapidly and today it was known as the city which could satisfy every need, obviously only with enough gold.

After eating their lunch in a restaurant the twins walked through the streets of Pharae. As a trade city the streets were crowded with market stands on both sides, with vendors shouting on top of their lungs trying to outdo their neighbour and lure the shoppers.

A particular cheetah vendor caught Sleet's attention.

"Crystal, I want to take a look on this stand."

The dragoness wasn't pleased by his choice. The offered goods consisted mainly of books.

"How much for that book over there?" asked Sleet while pointing at the book in question. Its title was "Stories of our world, and more."

"Too much for you, boy" Was the cheetah merchant's gruff answer. He was disappointed that the question came from a brat.

Crystal glared at him and shook her money pouch. "I think we have enough to buy at least one of your goods."

The jingling coins, and judging from the sound it wasn't a small amount, perked up the vendor's interest. His expression changed and his voice smothered. "Well, in this case," He took the book into his paws, opened it in the middle and showed the siblings a few pages. "This book was written by the famous dragon author Dardarax." He paused and while turning over another page, letting the children assess the information and admire the writing. "It contains a collection of ancient stories which would enlighten some of the confusing points you learn in your history class."

Suddenly he closed the book with a loud bang.

"This book is in an excellent state and it's one of the few originals, written by Dardarax himself. You won't see a treasure like this again."

After the explanation, her brother was excited but the mist dragoness was wary.

"And how much does it cost?" She tried to feign her interest.

"For you, children, I will make it cheaper. Thirty gold only for you two." exclaimed the merchant with a friendly smile.

They expected it would be expensive but this exceeded their expectation. They were shocked by the price but both dragons didn't show any hints of surprise, his eyes showed a glint of greed throughout his explanation.

Instead Sleet's excited voice increased. "Can we buy it? It will help us a lot with our studies. Please, please."

"I don't think so, Runt. This book looks really good but I'm not sure if it's worth thirty gold."

"But the text is written in such a beautiful way, the author must be skilled. Did you see the text? Perhaps it really does have more information than our history books."

"No and stop! Let's take a look around. Perhaps we will find something similar."

Her brother's head dropped in defeat and he gave off a heavy sigh. "Fine..."

As they both prepared to leave, the merchant cleared his throat. "Well your friend is a very eager one. I will lower the price just for him. Let's say twenty-five." He showed them the book again before placing it back to its original spot.

The mist dragoness flashed a hidden grinned at her twin. He was on their hook, like most greedy merchants he was easy to read.

"Ten gold! The book is in a good state but you only showed us a few pages. What if there are some pages missing?"

Her boldness surprised the merchant. He glared at her after he recovered. "Ten? That's not even half of its worth and are you accusing me of selling inferior products?"

"No. I'm just pointing out the things I want to see first before buying."

The cheetah crossed his arms and snorted, "I don't think you can inspect the quality of a book and its value. Twenty-three."

"Eleven. You still haven't showed us the book." For her part, it was fun. Shopping and agitating someone at the same time was pure fun for her.

"Twenty. I showed you kids the pages and the cover is still intact as if it was brand new. Take it or leave my stand."

This time it was her twin who spoke for them.

"Sixteen, our last offer. You didn't let us inspect the book. The appearance of the cover is good but while you turned over the pages, I saw a number of them missing. Beside, this book," he pointed at the book, "has been in your shop for months and you couldn't find a buyer until we came. Who knows when the next buyer will show up? We are probably your last chance."

The merchant growled but reluctantly took the offer. "Fine, sixteen gold." He held the book in one paw while extended the other with an open palm, waiting for the pay.

Crystal grinned at her brother, he knew how to seal a deal and in doing so, it was one of the few occasions he would be daring. The merchant didn't realise he fell for their trap after he lowered the price down to twenty-five. First, one of them will show interest while the other doesn't. Then wait if the price will be lowered, if not then you will leave, but if it does, you can begin the haggle.

This is one of the few occasion she was thankful to have Glacieth and Breen as their parents. The twins would often accompany them while they bargained out a deal, most often with great success. Both younglings learned to observe the reaction of the trade partners, or also often called victims, and one or two tricks to lure them to lower the price. With time they inherited the fine art of haggle and it became handy from time to time, like this one.

Yes, sometimes it had benefits to have two business dragons as parents, as much as the mist dragoness didn't want to admit.

The blue dragoness opened her money pouch and reached for the containing coins, as suddenly a yellow blur ran past her and knocked her down.

Few coins landed on the ground, but her pouch was taken from her.

"MY GOLD!" Shouted the dragoness and the merchant at the same time.

She didn't bother to pick up the fallen coins, instead the dragoness quickly ran after her stolen belongings.

She cursed under her breath, that cheetah thief probably observed them ever since she showed off her pouch and waited for the perfect opportunity to steal it. How stupid could she be?

Crystal followed him through the streets until they reached a dead end.

"Give me back my belonging and I won't hurt you… much." She growled, trying to sound as threatening as possible.

The feline wasn't concerned by her threat; he stood there with a smug face.

"Now, now young lady. You shouldn't threaten other people, especially adults," He grinned, showing off a predatory expression, "after all, you don't know what could happen."

As she wanted to shoot back a response, a solid object hit her on the back.

The mist dragoness couldn't stop herself into crying out in pain and tumbled down to the ground. She panted for air and prepared her breath weapon, but she felt the pressure of a person sitting on her body with two strong paws gripping her snout and held it shut. Another set of paws wrapped a thick rope around her mouth.

"You have quite a lot of money for a little girl." The their grunted in an amused tone, who still had her pouch and tossed it from one paw to the other one.

She growled at him but without the possibility to open her mouth, her growl was muffled.

"Boss, what are we going to do with her?" Asked the cheetah sitting on her.

"From her appearance and the amount of money she had with her, I guess she comes from a wealthy family" The one who stole her pouch answered in a satisfied tone, so he was the leader.

He stepped forward and drew a knife. "Surely we can get a ransom from your parents."

Crystal tried to growl again but failed as he stepped closer.

"A feisty one," Exclaimed her captor with a smirk, "I love those kind of females. Too bad, if you were a few years older I think we could've had some fun together."

She felt the weapon's cold steel against her neck. It sent a shiver through her whole body.

"Cooperate with us and we won't hurt you... much." He grinned, imitating her words.

It angered her but fear clenched her heart. Crystal had heard about people being kidnapped but like everyone, she never thought she would become a victim herself.

She didn't want to imagine the situation when Glacieth and Breen would refuse the offer. Sure, she wasn't the best example of a perfect daughter, not like her older sister Meein, but they wouldn't let her down. Or?

The leader moved his knife along her scales making her tremble in fear. He crouched down, looking into her eyes, facing her face-to-face.

"When I saw you and your friend I thought two children, helpless, alone without guardians, were easy prey and expected only a few coins. Imagine my surprise as I heard you jiggle your pouch. The outcome is much better than I expected."

These words ignited her rage. Not towards her captor but against herself, for her own foolishness.

"Tie her up; we don't want our precious trophy to escape."

As they finished the third capturer marvelled at their work, Crystal was left defenceless. Her front and hindpaws were tied; and her wings were knotted together with a rope, leaving her immobile. She couldn't open her mouth to speak or let alone curse.

She sighed, she couldn't defy her fate. At least Sleet was safe...

"Crystal!"

Her eyes widened as she recognised the owner of the voice. She wiggled around, trying to tell her brother to run away.

"What's going on here?" Sleet demanded in a puzzled tone, before he finally realised his sister's situation.

"What have you done to my sister?"

The leader grinned. "Sister he says huh?" He glanced over to his companions and nodded towards the ice dragon.

Both cheetahs charged towards their second victim.

Sleet was taken by surprise but he trashed around, trying to defend himself until he was thrown next to his sister.

Crystal tried to tell him to leave and run away, but the rope around her mouth prevented her to utter these words.

Sleet positioned himself between his bound sister and the three cheetahs.

The dragoness saw her brother visibly shaking. Perhaps he was hurt from the impact of his landing or in fear. His eyes darted back and forth from his sister towards their kidnappers.

"Don't play the hero little boy. Honestly, we don't want to hurt you two." Said the leader. His voice was friendly and Sleet would have believed them if it weren't for the knives clutched in their hands

Crystal just wanted to scream for him to run away and hide from these bastards. It was her fault that they were in this situation. She shouldn't have convinced her brother into sneaking out or rather she shouldn't have even thought of this idea.

But it was too late now, regret wouldn't help. She just hoped a miracle would happen.

Sleet stepped backwards as the three cheetahs advanced until he bumped into his sister.

Their eyes met for a second. For the first time in his young life he saw fear in his sister's gaze.

The dragoness didn't know what happened but somehow Sleet's expression changed from fearful to determination.

He took a deep breath, inhaling air as much as he could and squeezed his eyes shut.

The next thing took her and the cheetahs by surprise.

As her brother opened his maw, he exhaled his ice breath. Unlike any of his other tries she witnessed before, this time a huge torrent of liquid ice shot towards his target. Sleet didn't need to aim because the giant wave engulfed everything in front of him. When he stopped the pavement, the walls and the cheetahs, the whole alley, were covered in a thick layer of ice.

Sleet panted a few times before turning to his sister and freeing her from the uncomfortable situation.

"Crystal, are you okay?"

She saw his concern in her sibling's eyes and nodded. "Yeah, thanks to you." Crystal looked around before asking, "What did you do? Or how did you do that?"

"Um, I..." He avoided her eyes and looked everywhere but not at his sister.

She stretched her wings enjoying her regained freedom, but still waited for an answer.

"So?"

As Sleet finally said something, a new voice boomed up.

"I'm astonished by your feat, young dragon."

The twins saw an adult dragon coming down the frozen alley, admiring the frozen area.

"You froze this place with just a breath of yours and you can still stand. You have a lot of magical power in you"

As he approached them, they recognised the medallion hung around his neck. It was made of gold and the sign on its surface was that of the element ice. It was a Guardian seal.

Booth looked up in awe as he finally stopped in front of them.

"May I introduce myself?"

Both nodded dumbfound.

"I'm Cyril the Guardian of Ice. I'm looking for a youngling named Sleet and from the look I assume it is you." He stared down to the male twin.

"Uh, y-yes, I'm Sleet..." He paused, and then quickly added. "Master Cyril."

"Well young dragon, I visited your academy in search of a dragon, who I will take in as a student for the dragon temple."

The adult glanced over to Crystal as she let out an audible gasp but resumed his speech.

"And your principal recommended you, because of your grades and your drive for knowledge. Although," he stopped and motioned to the walls and then to the frozen cheetahs, "From the event I witnessed, I think you are capable of more than just being a good student."

Sleet's face lit up with happiness through the Guardian's words. He couldn't believe what was happening.

Crystal couldn't believe it either. But for her it was a rather dreadful feeling. The thing she wanted to prevent was going to happen.

"Well than young dragon, I wanted to test you but I do not think it's necessary. May I ask you if you want to become my apprentice and student of the dragon temple, where you will learn from us Guardians and prepare you for a brighter future?"

This question, the question she knew would come, split something in her into two pieces, butthes she heard her brother's answer...

"Yes, yes of course! I'm more than honoured to accept such a proposal, Master Cyril."

...these pieces shattered into millions of shards. The worst part was, she didn't even know what that thing was.

The morning...

Crystal woke up very early, earlier than usual. She didn't want to disturb her brother's sleep so she decided for a stroll through the academy.

The principal announced an acceptance celebration in honour for Sleet's entry into the dragon temple.

For today the whole school had the day off and later a feast was thrown in his honour.

The mist dragoness was lost in her thoughts until someone bumped into her. She shook her head and wanted to apologise but stopped.

"What do you want Vagra?" She glared at her so called best friend.

"What I want? I have been standing here," The orange dragoness pointed to the ground where she laid. "the whole time until you bumped into me."

She growled, "I'm not-"

"Anyway, let's go to my room, we have to talk."

Without waiting for a protest, Vagra wrapped her tail around the other dragoness's neck and pulled her along.

Crystal tried to pull back but it didn't show any effect. Was she always this strong? She sighed and followed the lead, cursing Vagra along the way.

The blue dragoness stared at her feet. She didn't want to take a look around. Vagra's room was bright, too bright for her taste. It wasn't the brightness of the sun or anything natural, rather the dreadful colour called pink. The flame dragoness's furniture was almost exclusively pink. The carpet, the closet, the table, the pillows and she even repainted some of her book covers into pink.

Crystal mumbled something under her breath.

"What? I didn't understand." Vagra was shuffling her pillows to make herself comfortable.

"I said, can't we just talk somewhere else?" again she shot the other dragoness one of her most dangerous glare.

But to her disappointment it didn't had any effect.

"Nope, my room is the best place for our talk. You are weak against pink and here I have an advantage over you."

"Why you-"

"I know you are sad about Sleet's entry into the dragon temple. But you shouldn't keep him imprisoned."

Crystal blinked.

"You know," Vagra continued, "I'll miss him too."

"But-"

"I know, I know you are his sister or rather his twin sister, and I'm _just_ a friend." She emphasizing the just, which made Crystal feel a little guilty. "But have you seen his face? He was _so_ happy when he told me the news."

"But-"

"Yeah, yeah he can't protect himself. You know what? You can't protect him forever. You two are twins, which is a special bond I always envied. You two were inseparable; I have never met you two alone outside of the classes. But you and Sleet are two different beings. He isn't weak just because of his lack of physical strength. I bet you saw his incredible ice breath yesterday."

The blue dragoness nodded. "I-"

"Yes, you probably realised it but you can't push away the instinct to protect him."

Crystal's left eye twitched in annoyance. "Would you stop interrupting me? It's getting on my nerves."

Her friend smiled cutely. "Okay."

She rolled her eyes. "I know you are right. But it's hard to accept the fact that Sleet is going to leave." She took a deep breath before she continued, "I have always seen him as a frail boy who needs to be protected."

Vagra sat there and nodded her head. Smiling mischievously. "Something must have happened with you. The real Crystal wouldn't agree so fast."

Crystal fought the urge to punch the other dragoness. "Could you please be serious?"

"I'm serious. How did your view change?"

"As I lay there helpless, no scratch that. At first Sleet was scared, I saw it in his eyes. But suddenly it changed. He was still fearful but he gulped it down. He became brave, courageous within a second and when I saw his breath attack I knew he wasn't weak or frail as I always believed."

They sat in silence; Crystal avoided her friends piercing eyes, knowing she won't stop until the story was finished.

"It was quite shocking. All the time, I thought his breath was weak. Whenever, I saw him use it only a small amount of liquid would come out or just a snowball."

"But now that you finally saw his real breath..."

Crystal nodded, "Yes, he isn't weak."

She replayed the whole incident and suddenly frowned.

"Wait, it sounds like you knew."

Vagra wore her cutest smile and imitated her most innocent tone, "I did. But I promised Sleet not to tell you and I keep my promises."

The mist dragoness eyes twitched first in annoyance and then rolled her eyes.

"I see."

Silence overcame the room again, neither said anything.

After a few minutes, Crystal finally stood up.

"I will go. The celebration is going to start soon. See you there."

As she proceeded to leave, Vagra spoke again.

"Wait, I have one thing left to say."

She turned to her friend, raising an eyebrow as a sign of curiosity.

"You always believed Sleet needs you, which is right. But has it every occurred you that you might need him too?"

It made Crystal frown.

"You two are siblings and you can count on each other. I was jealous I'm an only child so I don't know the bond you two share. Perhaps because you didn't realise how much you relied on him, you needed him more than he needed you."

These words gave the mist dragoness a lot to think about. She shook her head, as a headache started to build up.

Still there was one thing left that bothered her. "Do you know why Cyril knew our location?"

Vagra nodded. "After it became late and you two didn't return, I feared the worst. I told the principal and Master Cyril about your disappearance and that Sleet probably went with you." The flame dragoness looked directly into Crystal's eyes. "I told them your favourite places and they began their search."

Neither said a word. Crystal needed some time to process the information she received until she spoke again, the next question surprised the other dragoness.

"We will always be friends, right?"

This time Vagra gave a genuine smile. "Yes, best friends, promise."

Both dragonesses smiled at each other.

As Crystal closed the door she heard her best friend say, "But in a few years we will be more than friends. We will become sisters-in-law!"

She snorted, why did Vagra had to destroy her dramatic departure.

The feast was opened with a speech, spoken by the principal. It contained the importance of the dragon temple, the honour of studying under the five Guardians. Thought, the principle mostly praised Sleet for his work while attending the academy. Throughout the feast and the whole day Crystal avoided her brother. It wasn't until the evening Sleet caught her in their shared room.

She rummaged through her belongings as the door to the closed.

"Crystal, are you ok?"

She nodded, more to herself than to her brother, without interrupting her search.

"I'm fine, thanks."

He sat down beside the table and waited for his sister to stop whatever she was doing.

The dragoness didn't let his presence bother her rather it motivated her search.

Neither spoke a word, the silence was heavy in the air which made Sleet uncomfortable. "You have been dodging me ever since we came back."

She glanced over to her brother with a frown. "You think so, Runt?"

Somehow, her use of his nickname made him smile. "You didn't talk with me yesterday. You immediately went to bed and today, I wasn't able to track you down."

She resumed her search, continuing with her drawer as her closet didn't contain her object.

"I talked with Vagra, we made up. That's all." She frowned, where the hell is it? Did she misplaced it or threw it away?

"That's great. Vagra would have missed an opportunity to talk with you." Sleet's voice was his usual cheerful self. It's going to change soon.

"Oh yeah, Vagra told me that she promised you she wouldn't tell me your little secret." She outwardly glared at him but her mouth was twitching, keeping her grin hidden. It brightened her mood seeing her brother squirming under her gaze and paled visibly. "Though I'm curious why you wanted to keep it a secret from me."

"I-uh-I-she-"

A knock on the door came to his rescue. Without waiting for response the intruder or rather three intruders walked in.

Their older siblings were carrying plates and a bag with them.

"Guess what! The official feast ended, and our little family celebration is going to start now." exclaimed Frost cheerfully, and for Crystal, annoying voice.

They put the plates, covered with lids, onto the table and waited for Crystal to join the family round.

She stopped her search reluctantly and took a seat beside her older sister Meein. Somehow she felt left out. Her older brothers surrounded Sleet, and were teasing him and slapping his shoulders, congratulating him to his achievement, which her twin answered with a sheepish smile. Meein, as the oldest sibling and perfect young lady, watched them with a content smile.

"Didn't expect you to be chosen but you must have impressed him with whatever you did, Squirt." Again Direst slapped his youngest brother in a friendly manner.

"Thanks Direst." Sleet rubbed his arm, he wasn't used in having his brother's attention but nonetheless it made him happy.

"Our little brother is going to be a Guardian apprentice- wait, he already IS. That's just awesome." Added Frost with a grin.

Crystal rolled her eyes and had to ask her question. "I thought you two wanted to be chosen, why are you so happy?"

She got the attention of everyone in the room. She cursed herself for uttering the stupid sentence.

"Of course, we wanted to. But it's still great to have someone in our family going to the dragon temple. Sleet deserves it!" Answered Frost still grinning while Direst nodded in agreement.

"We admit that our little brother is a little better, though still not as handsome as us. At the dragon temple you probably have to study every day and that's nothing for us." Direst grinned at his youngest brother. "Sleet is the brainiac in our family."

Sleet stared at Direst with wide eyes.

Suddenly with a quick movement he hugged his brother.

"Thanks Direst, that means a lot to me." He sniffed through watery eyes.

"Ack, get away Squirt." The water dragon tried to pull his arm free while pushing his younger sibling's head away. "That's one of the reasons why I normally never compliment you. You can get too touchy."

Meein tried to dissolve the chaos. "Settle down, boys. Don't tease our little brother too much."

Crystal was curious. What did the older three planned?

"So? What are we going to do now?"

Her sister was the one who answered the question.

"Obviously we are having a family meeting now. We rarely do something like that, so I thought Sleet's acceptance is probably the best reason to do it."

The mist dragoness snorted but didn't say anything.

Meein frowned at her sister's attitude, it bothered her a little. She motioned Crystal to follow her for a private talk.

The mist dragoness sat in front of Meein, but she satisfied herself by watching her brothers chatting with each other and laughing at some silly jokes.

"I know. We never had something like this and it's strange to do it right after yesterday's event."

Crystal merely grunted in response still staring at her brothers, she couldn't believe that her older siblings would come and be friendly to the twins all of sudden. Especially Meein, who mostly ignored them. Frost and Direst were more talkative but bragged about everything they did. It must be some sort of joke.

Her sister was displeased by Crystal's lack of response.

"Don't be so gloomy. You're destroying the mood here."

"It's you three, who are destroying the mood..." She mumbled the sentence but the ice dragoness still caught the sentence.

Meein stared at Crystal. "You are too headstrong for your own good. No wonder mother and father wanted me to keep an eye on you."

She blinked, looking at Meein astonishingly. "They did?"

The older sister nodded. "Yes, they did. Anyway, lighten up a bit. Even if you don't like our presence, at least try to pretend being happy." Again she didn't get a response, then she added, "For Sleet."

She watched her twin again, he was happy being surrounded by their brothers. "Fine..."

Meein brushed her tail against Crystal's. "Don't worry, I will leave with Frost and Direst as soon as possible. From your face, I can guess you probably have a lot of things to talk about with our baby brother."

The mist dragoness smiled slightly and responded by repeating the brushing motion with her own tail. "Thanks"

Perhaps Meein wasn't just pretending to be mature, perhaps she really was mature.

As the dragonesses joined their brothers, Frost had Sleet in a headlock.

"There Squirt, a last memento from your beloved brother."

Sleet struggled to get free but it was in vain. He was fighting for air.

"Would you be so friendly and let go of my Runt?"

The ice dragon grinned at her. "He is our little brother too. We also have the same right to tease and bully him as you." Eventually he let go of Sleet.

Meein spoke up, "Anyway, as I said before, we wanted to celebrate Sleet's entry and brought a small meal with us."

As they opened the lids of the plates a strange smell overtook the room. The meal looked like a well-cooked mix of different meats. It wasn't dark like burnt ones and the meat juice looked tasty. All in all it looked inviting. Though, the strange smell kept the children at bay.

The twins were wary.

"Who cooked the meal?" It was Sleet who asked the question.

"Why, me, of course." Replied Meein proudly.

The mouths of the twins twitched slightly.

"Direst and Frost had the idea for this and they talked me into preparing the meals."

"Yup, we did." Direst was giving a mischievousness grin as he continued. "Come one little bro, try it. It's one of our dear big sister's famous dishes and she specially cooked it for you"

Frost wore the same grin, in Crystal's eyes it made them look even more foolish as they normally were.

Sleet was sweating while Crystal gave her brothers the coldest glare she had. Indeed Meein's dishes were famous, or rather infamous. The last time Sleet tried her self-made meals, he had to stay in bed for the rest of the day because of a stomach upset, while Crystal lost her sense of taste for several days until it came back miraculously.

But Sleet had one hope left.

He asked carefully, "Did you cook it after a recipe?"

Meein was puzzled by his question. "No, it's something I made up. Why?"

"Nothing..." Crystal could almost hear his hope shattering.

She pitied her poor brother. Meein wasn't a bad cook. The eldest sibling can prepare the tastiest meals, but only if she follows a recipe. When left on her own devices, her meals were dreadful. Unfortunately Meein was obvious of her little yet dangerous flaw.

Frost and Direst were trying their best in holding back their laughter. The bastards planned it!

Sleet looked at Meein. She was smiling and probably anticipated his first try.

He gulped nervously and glanced over at Crystal who only shrugged her shoulders, unable to help her twin. Sleet stuck out his tongue, giving the meal a wary lick, tasting the flavour in his maw.

The older brothers were ready to burst into a fit of laughter until Sleet extended his tongue again and this time ate a piece of meat. Crystal and her other siblings were watching him with an intense curiosity.

The youngest ice dragon chewed and chewed, after he swallowed the meat he frowned.

"How does it taste?" asked Frost, his voice showed his anxiety.

"I don't know..." Sleet wasn't sure what to say.

"What do you meant, you don't know. How does it taste, Runt?"

"It tastes..." He stopped again unsure how to describe it. He tried again. "It tastes... flavourless?"

"Flavourless?" Everyone asked in surprise.

He affirmed, "Yes, flavourless. It tastes like nothing. It doesn't have a taste at all."

"How can it taste like nothing? I saw the amount of ingredient she used! She threw everything she could grab into the kettle! It can't taste after nothing!" Exclaimed Direst in a shocked voice. Meein glared at him, ready to freeze him with her breath.

Sleet just shrugged. "Give it a try and you will know."

The water dragon was reluctant, his curiosity won out. He carefully tried a meat piece.

"Urgh, Sleet is right. It really tastes flavourless."

Slowly Crystal and Frost took their turn.

"It does" Crystal said in mild surprise. Frost nodded in agreement.

Meein snorted. "You kids don't have any sense of taste."

All four looked at her as if she grew a second head; it was more like the other way around.

"Well, try it yourself sis." Frost handed her a plate.

Meein ate a piece just to prove her point but her eyes widened in shock. "It is true..." Her voice sounded like the world was going to end.

Her younger siblings either shook their head in disbelieve or just rolled their eyes at her ignorance.

"Guess it can't be helped. We better eat everything than wasting the meat." Direst grumbled as he dug into the meat.

The others followed suit. They savoured the unique taste of nothingness throughout the meal as they joked about the preparation and how it would taste good with any dishe, much to Meein's embarrassment.

When they finished Frost began to speak, "Now that we enjoyed the world of flavourless and tasteless flesh," He ignored the growl coming from his oldest sister as he continued, "it's time for presents!"

The three older siblings took out three wrapped packages and gave them to Sleet.

Sleet was surprised but grinned happily. "For me? Really?"

"Yes, here open mine first."

The youngest dragon immediately began to unwrap the present.

Crystal tightened her eyes as she saw what the package contained. Did Sleet really receive what she thought?

"A mailing set!" exclaimed Sleet joyfully by his humble present. It included two dozens of envelopes, the same amount of paper, two quills and a bottle of ink.

Crystal frowned while Direst and Meein were taken aback by the revelation.

"Yeah, I want you to write me each week at least a letter. I want you to write everything about Spyro, Cynder and the Guardians when you meet them, and of course I want to know if you are well and if you are happy there. Got it?"

Sleet smiled at Frost, it made him happy that his brother was concerned about his well-being.

He continued with the other two and a silence fell over the room as he finished.

"I guess we all had the same idea..." Meein said with an embarrassed laugh.

Indeed, in front of Sleet lay three mailing sets.

"Sorry Squirt, we should have cleared it up before we came." It was Direst who apologized.

"No, it's fine. I like it. It shows me how much you care about me. I will write as often as I can, I promise." Sleet smiled. He didn't show any hint of disappointment while he spoke the words, he truly meant it.

A wave of melancholy washed through Crystal, as she watched the scene unfold. How foolish from her. She always thought that she alone cared about her twin but today. Not only had Vagra blurred the lines, even their older siblings, the two brothers she only thought as an annoyance, the eldest sister she thought as narcissistic, smashed the illusion into her face.

Perhaps it was her who was ignorant.

Meein glanced over to Crystal, the mist dragoness was silent and didn't threw in any comments which was rare for her bold sister.

"It's getting late. Direst, Frost we should leave. Sleet has an important day tomorrow and he needs to rest."

The eldest sister nudged Crystal and whispered into her earhole, "Tell him everything you have to say. Don't let your stubbornness get in your way."

Bidding farewells, the three elder siblings left the twins alone in their private room and with them, the cheerful chatter disappeared too, it became silent again.

Crystal ignored Sleet, as she trotted over to her pile of pillows and laid herself down.

He was watching her, wondering what he could say but stopped as she returned his look with a gaze of her own.

The older twin mused while watching her brother turn his head away unable to withstand her gaze. He really needs more confidence.

"Don't you have to pack your belongings?" Asked the dragoness.

"Uh, I've already packed up the important things."

Both twins were silent, it was apparent that neither knew what to say next.

Crystal continued watching her brother. She wanted to hide his belongings and stop him from leaving this place, from leaving her. She wanted to tell him, no beg him to stay in this damned academy, for him to throw away the chance to attend the most sought education for young dragons like them. But that would be selfish. For the same selfish reason she did the stupidest thing yesterday and almost got them kidnapped by criminals. She would never admit that it was wrong what she did. She was too stubborn, too prideful and it also prevented her to say every word she wanted to say in this very moment.

"Crystal can I sleep with you tonight?" Sleet stopped her guilt trip as he said these words.

"Of course. Why are you asking such an obvious question, Runt?"

She scooted to the side to make more room and waited for him to take the free spot. Sleet immediately laid himself down beside his sister and nuzzled her cheek.

His affection shot like an electrical spark through Crystal's system. Somehow this single action calmed her mind and she was satisfied to feel her brother's body warmth beside her. It made her realize how much they mean to each other.

She brushed her wing over his back with a slow motion and covered his body with it.

The she remembered the talk they had before their siblings came.

"So, tell me why Vagra knew about your breath and why you didn't tell me."

Without waiting a beat Sleet tried to stutter out an excuse. "Ah, yo-you see it so... sh-she... I-I..."

Crystal rolled her eyes; he really is the worst liar. "She knows the full story?"

Her brother nodded slowly and eyed her careful, probably waiting for the signs of an outburst.

"Well then, never mind, Runt. I will ask her myself tomorrow." And how was she going to ask for the whole truth? Crystal would never tell her friend the truth of what had happened.

Sleet sighed in relief, his sister wasn't going to vent her anger on him.

"So, where are you two going to? Straight to the temple?"

He shook his head. "No, Master Cyril said he has to inform our parents first, that means we will visit them and he will ask for their approval."

"They will say yes and then continue their business." She shrugged her shoulders; it would be a miracle if they wouldn't give their consent. Glacieth and Breen will probably try to gain some benefits from this event.

Her apathy made Sleet frown. "Crystal... our parents aren't bad. They just have their own way in showing us their love."

The mist dragoness wanted to utter a reply but stopped herself. Today people revealed themselves in a new light she never thought of and from Meein's words, their parents were worried about their well-being.

She nuzzled her brother's cheek. "Perhaps you are right. I should send them a letter."

A grin appeared on his face. "That would great."

Crystal watched him a little longer but eventually stood up and went to her drawer. She pulled something out and presented it to Sleet.

"A mailing set? You were looking for this?" Asked Sleet in a surprised tone.

The dragoness nodded. "I wanted to give it to you but they breached our door and took over our room before I could."

Sleet chuckled; he loved Crystal's choice of words, her sarcasm always made him smile.

"I guess great minds think alike eh?" Came his reply in a singsong voice.

Crystal didn't like the meaning behind this sentence. "Stop it Runt. Don't throw me into the same batch as our brothers. It destroys my reputation and raises theirs."

She seated herself beside her brother and again covered him with her wing.

"You didn't mention Meein, does it mean you like her now?"

She rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Runt."

He merely snickered and gave her cheek a lick.

The dragoness smiled. "Don't forget to write every week. I want to know what happen with you over there." She punched his arm. "And I really mean it. If you don't write I will personally drag you back."

"Aw." He rubbed his assaulted arm. "Don't worry Crystal. You are the last person I will forget. After all, I love soooo much." He widened his arms to emphasise his words.

She nodded and smiled, it felt like a heavy burden was lifted from her chest. Crystal nuzzled his cheek lovingly and gave his snout a wet lick. "Thank you, I love you too, Runt." The dragoness wrapped her tail around Sleet's, giving it a small squeeze.

They lay together, enjoying each other's body warmth and the time together until one of them fell in a peaceful sleep.

She watched him sleep, the goofy grin plastered on his face. She sighed. Crystal knew the next time they will see each other in person again, they would likely be fully grown adults. But for now she was content that they were still children. Two siblings, who helped and needed each other.

The mist dragoness wished for the night to never end. But she was powerless. She couldn't succeed in stopping time or preventing their growth. All she could do was to cherish the time they had spent together and make new memories for the future.

She rested herself, trying to attain the same peaceful dream her brother had.


End file.
